Maybe this is your way out
Design a new path for yourself at Mars College with Lifestyle Engineering
How do you feel when you get up in the morning to go to your job? Are you excited? Motivated? Are you working on something you believe in? Something you love to be working on? Are you doing what you want to be doing? For some people the answers to these questions are a clear yes. The real question is, what do you do if your answers are a resounding no.
For many people, particularly in the tech industry, their job is more than just a job, it is the core of their life. It is what everything else is built around, often including where you live. That makes leaving your job really hard because it’s like quitting your entire life. This is why many people stay in a job they don’t like - it’s comfortable and leaving means starting your life over.
My first manager had a great saying - “If you’re comfortable, that’s the time you need a change.” He explained that if you’re comfortable at work, it means you aren’t challenged, which means you aren’t growing. If your goal is to become better at whatever you are doing, you need to be continually challenged. Comfort in your job is a sign that you have plateaued.
So what do you do if you want out of your job? The tendency for many people is to jump to another job. Sometimes if it’s your specific employer that is the problem this will fix the situation. But if it’s the idea of a job that is a problem, the idea of your employer as the center of your life that is a problem, changing to another job isn’t going to fix anything. You are going to need to come up with a new way of living.
Let me make a suggestion that could change your life. Instead of jumping directly to the next job, why not come to Mars College first? If you’re good at what you do and you work in a profitable industry there will always be another job. Always. If your employer loves you or you are critical to their business they may be open to you taking a sabbatical or working limited hours remotely. Come to Mars College and figure out what’s next for your life, rather than letting your next employer define it for you.
The lifestyle engineering major was created to help people design and live the life they want in a low-cost sustainable way. The idea behind lifestyle engineering is that you design the life you want to have and then build everything else out around it, including how you make money and sustain yourself. Rather than starting with a job as the center of your life, you start with the lifestyle you want as the center of your life, and then build from there.
Those who take this approach often find success by creating a lifestyle business, which is a business that is built specifically to support their lifestyle. In my situation I wanted to travel and do photography, and so I created a tiny software business that integrated both, making it so that traveling and taking pictures was profitable. Figuring out what will work for you will take some time, but it’s easier when you’ve got help from others with experience.
The lifestyle engineering major is open to people in all stages of their career. Even if you’ve already made it on to the right path for yourself, we will spend a lot of time talking about how to grow and sustain your practice, including handling details like business registration, taxes, managing clients, hiring contractors and more. This is not just a class but a community sharing their experiences and growing their plans together. We’ll be learning from each other's successes and failures.
We hope you’ll join us. Take the first step and apply to Mars College now. We promise you’ll be continually challenged. For more information on the Lifestyle Engineering major you can read the class description here.
P.S. If you’re having trouble figuring out what’s next for yourself, watch this inspiring commencement speech from Nail Gaiman or this animated short Start Now No Funding Needed by Derek Sivers. You can also watch a recording of Josh’s talk “Effective Strategies for Dropping Out” which is the foundation for this major.
Sure! Just send me an email at joshmichaels at me.com and we can coordinate.
Josh -- can we meet up? I'm going to be in Bombay Beach on the weekend of Feb 23. I'd like to consult with you for a bit about the direction moving forward in my life. I'm coming off a 16 year deal at Warner Brothers, but I'm actually a philosopher. Eric